'Fat Tax' Is Really a Poor Tax

(Newser)
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With Congress contemplating a trillion dollar health care bill, the idea of the “fat tax” has come back into vogue as a way to slim down Americans. Supporters say junk food is every bit the addictive drug that cigarettes are, designed by food scientists to be “hyperpalatable,” and nigh-irresistible. “It’s hard to draw a line, though, between foods that are drugs and foods that are merely delicious,” writes Daniel Engber of Slate.

Let's face it, many gourmands happily ignore the butter filling the sauces of Michelin’s finest. In other words, “Doughnuts are a drug; brioche is a treat. Some tastes are more equal than others,” Engber writes. A fat tax would discriminate between the delights of the poor and the rich. It might redistribute wealth—it definitely “will redistribute pleasure.”

That's right... government shouldn't be involved in what people stuff in their mouths... because when left on their own, Americans have done such an outstanding job of managing it on their own. Everyone is now obese. Everyone. Everywhere I go, it is nothing but obese people. The schools are filled with kids so obese their heads are mishaped. I went to my daughters school one day and all you could hear in the hall way was the gasping/wheezing of children trying to waddle down the halls. I go to the grocery store and it is literally FILLED with people so obese they stop in the middle of aisles and just stand there, taking a break because they can't physically walk through the store. Put it this way - what difference does it make to YOU if the government puts a tax on junk food, unless you are the one buying mostly junk food, seriously? What is your argument - that you will somehow be disturbed by this? Your family will suffer? If not, go about living your life and don't worry about it. If so, YOU NEED THIS.

grassisntgreener

Sep 23, 2009 12:51 PM CDT

next is the white flour tax.does it end?

Unaffiliated

Sep 23, 2009 12:23 PM CDT

The sun does cause cancer...but then too little sun and you get a Vitamin D deficiency.

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